Laura, Olivia and I had breakfast with my mom in downtown Franklin this morning. I spent a considerable amount of time the prior evening trying to track down a local restaurant to visit on Saturday morning for breakfast. Weekend breakfasts are a big ordeal for us, and we want to make sure we’re not going to Denny’s every time we visit my mom. We picked three potentials, but landed at the D & D Club. It’s really called the Don and Dona’s Club, but they shorten it for the benefit of us nerds, I’m sure. The food was about what you’d expect from any greasy spoon. There were American flags on the menu, and Fox News was on every channel, if you know what I mean. There was also a farmer-type fellow who spoke in the most indecipherable Indiana drawl I’ve yet encountered. I coudn’t understand anything other than every 7th or 8th word. The conversation went like this:

Trucker Hat: “….minutes….smile….pancake….beetle….Heh heh!”

Me: “uh-huh. Those homo fruitcakes are a group to watch out for, sir!”

So that was that.

We were interrupted by the waitress who delivered my biscuits and gravy on a heaping plate. It was more gravy than biscuit, to be honest. Too much for human consumption. I noticed a few sideways stares when I told my mom about the funny thing one of our friend’s 3-year old said at his birthday party a few weekends ago: “if George Bush and John McCain were to take a shower, they’d still stink”. We also talked about the recent New Yorker cover satirizing the Obama rumors, but I suspect the joke was lost on this crowd and they somehow would have thought the New Yorker was going conservative.

But we’ll be going back again. Who can refuse a pound and a half of gravy?

We decided to walk the breakfast off with a tour of downtown Franklin. It was blazingly hot, so we were all saying a little thanks to Best Buy and Walmart for helping destroy the downtown square. There just wasn’t much to see. A lawyer’s office here, a bar there. An antique store.

But what’s this? An honest to God pharmacy? Like, one that doesn’t start with “C” and end in “S”? Holy shit! There may be life here after all. Maybe this warrants another look. Wow! A children’s store!

The “Imagination Station” is a true gem. We took our 1 year-old in and she had a blast. Their toy selection was stellar (though, I didn’t see any automoblox, to my dismay). In the back, a woman was setting up a small room with a low-table and teeny chairs for a tea party. They have story-time. They have imaginative wall art. They have wooden toys. It was wonderful. I could have bought a lot more, but I want to make sure we pace ourselves and have an excuse to visit the next time we go to grandma’s house. It all makes me think that Olivia should get the larger room upstairs that we’re using for the den. When we checked out, they asked for my e-mail address so they could put me on announcements. I normally shun those lists, but even though Franklin is a good hours drive away, I had them add me. Perhaps we’ll run up there sometime when Olivia gets a bit older.